Chris Hemsworth is Box Office Poison

Talent and charisma notwithstanding, the once and future (?) Thor has become associated with lazy, indifferent casting for commercially dubious franchise flicks.

Making a Prince Charming movie seems like the kind of half-joking idea that comes up when Disney executives realize that they have no more A-level Walt Disney toons left to remake. And yet, so says Deadline, we may be getting a movie centered around the infamously underdeveloped love interest from Cinderella, complete with Paddington and Wonka director Paul King at the helm. Meanwhile, so says The InSneider, Chris Hemsworth might play Mr. Charming.

First, this is the kind of aggressively self-defeating thinking Hollywood was supposed to have gotten out of its system in the late 2010s. You don’t try to capitalize on a viable female-focused IP by emphasizing the dude. Second, Hemsworth has amassed such a non-MCU track record that I’m inclined to argue that he has become box office poison. 13 years since Thor, he is still entirely defined by his singular marquee character. Moreover, as he keeps getting more and more “second chances” to prove that he’s a franchise-friendly movie star, his casting in tentpole/IP flicks has become a signal of comparative indifference.